This Christmas Is About Courage.

It’s nearly Christmas. I stop and look around. In my head. I stop and look around in my head. I do that sometimes when it’s completely quiet in the house, Carla is doing her thing, Alin is putting together or taking apart something and I stop and think. What is this Christmas about?

And man oh man, I came this close (in my head) to ranting about … everything.

Consumerism; Gift wrapping paper; People who are like gift wrapping paper — superficial, glam and, in the end, totally unnecessary; Expectations at the job, at home and in society and the list goes on and on and bloody on.

But instead, I decided to flip it and make this Christmas about courage.

Not because of some inspirational post on LinkedIn (Have you seen those? It’s like, everything is or has to be perfect in this world and everyone needs to agree on that. Facepalm.), but because I realized every rant, every storm in my head actually comes from a good place.
Going back to the courage of being anything else than the flashy things. The courage of not belonging, the courage of being against the grain, the courage of being your damn self, no matter who that is, even if that means to be alone. For Christmas. Oh my god, I can hear the starlight sparkly gift-wrapping-people cringe.

So, this is me, Oana. Cast your stones.

I think it’s courageous to challenge people to reduce their consumption of pretty much anything they don’t actually need. Starting with coffees in non-recyclable cups to useless Christmas gifts to a new car you think you need because you are plain lazy.

I think it’s courageous to dress how you feel and say ‘fuck it’ to your corporate boss who has something against your Tom&Jerry shoes.

It’s courageous to speak up. In front of your boss, in front of someone who intimidated you all your life, in front of a politician who seems to have it all figured out.

It’s courageous to say ‘fuck you’ but also to cry. No matter your audience, no matter your gender.

I think it’s courageous to call people out on their bullshit disregarding age, religion, gender, sexual orientation or any other minority they represent. A special mention here get the opportunist feminists we’ve come across after #metoo, but also #blacklivesmatter and similar currents.

All in all, this Christmas is about the courage of standing on your own feet and having only your brain for a compass. This Christmas is about the courage of finding, embracing and assuming your own liberty, the one you learned about in books, the one you take advantage of every day since birth.

This Christmas is about being yourself and, equally important, understanding that that liberty comes with a responsibility you can’t delegate any longer.

Originally published on www.lifeoftwo.co .

Do you like what you read? Leave a comment below. Thanks!